The invention relates to an electromagnetic transfer system.
A transfer system of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,876,107 B2. The known transfer system is, in particular, arranged between a first conveying device, for example conveying articles in the form of foodstuffs packages, and a second conveying device following the transfer system. By means of the transfer system, the individual articles can be picked up from the first conveying device and, for example at defined spacings from one another, discharged to the second conveying device. This is important since the second conveying device, for example, feeds the articles to a packaging system arranged downstream, in which it is important that the articles arrive in a specific arrangement or at a specific mutual spacing from one another. In the case of the known transfer system, conveying elements having product pushers are arranged on the closed carrier path, each of which picks up an article from the first conveying device and conveys it along a transport path on the transfer system. To this end, each conveying element can be driven individually, for which purpose permanent magnet elements arranged in the conveying element are used in conjunction with individually activatable induction coils arranged on the carrier path. By means of appropriately driving the induction coils, any desired speed profiles of the conveying elements can be achieved. In the known transfer system, provision is made for the first conveying device, according to FIG. 5 of the text mentioned, to convey the articles in a direction at right angles to the direction of movement of the conveying elements. In order to avoid damage to the articles, it is therefore necessary that the conveying elements stop in the transfer area and, following the transfer of an article from the first conveying device, are moved from the stopped position. A procedure of this type requires a relatively large spacing between the individual articles on the first conveying device, in order that sufficient time remains to transport the respective article away out of the transfer region.
Furthermore, for example from DE 10 2009 029 314 A1, a transfer system is known in which both the feed device to the transfer system and the conveying device arranged downstream are arranged in relation to the direction of movement of the articles parallel to the conveying path of the articles within the transfer system. In this transfer system, which has rotatably arranged conveying elements, in order that the drivers of the respective conveying element are always aligned with the articles, the pick-up region from the feed device and the transfer region to the downstream conveying device are each arranged in a curved region of the carrier path of the transfer system.